A Reading List on Christian Nationalism

Here are some of the most significant recent works on the threat Christian Nationalism poses in the US and how to counter it. I will continue to add to this list over time. Tell me about any other works on Christian Nationalism that should be added to this list. It is a quickly growing field and I want to stay on top of it.

I will post occasional mini-reviews of some of these works. I’d love it if you would read along and give me your thoughts.

Audi, Robert. (2023). Is This God’s Country? Religion and Democracy in America, Oxford University Press.

Baker, Carolyn. Confronting Christofascism: Healing the Evangelical Wound, Apocryphile Press, 2021.

Du Mez, Kristin Kobes. Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, Liveright, 2021.

Gardels, Nathan. (2024). “Strong Gods and Demagogues: Family, Faith and Nation Challenge the Open Society,” Noema. October 17, 2024. https://www.noemamag.com/strong-gods-and-demagogues/

Gorski, Phillip, and Samuel L. Perry. The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy, Oxford University Press, 2022.

Heyward, C. (2022). The seven deadly sins of White Christian nationalism: A call to action. Rowman & Littlefield.

Kingsnorth, Paul. (2025). “Against Christian Civilization,” First Things, January 2025. https://www.firstthings.com/article/2025/01/against-christian-civilization

Kruse, Kevin M., and Julian E. Zelizer, eds. Myth America: Historians Take On the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past, Basic Books, 2023.

Kruse, Kevin M. One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America, Basic Books, 2015.

Leiter, Brian. (2013). Why Tolerate Religion? Princeton University Press.

Onishi, Bradley. Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism—and What Comes Next, Broadleaf Books, 2023.

Saxton, Teresa. Pierre Bayle and the QAnon “Skeptics” (2021 blog post)

Seidel, Andrew L. The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism is Un-American, Union Square & Co, 2021.

Sexton, Jared Yates. The Midnight Kingdom: A History of Power, Paranoia, and the Coming Crisis, Dutton, 2023.

Sexton, Jared Yates. American Rule: How a Nation Conquered the World but Failed its People, Dutton, 2021.

Shin, A. K., Benfield, L. R., Curry, M. B., Baskerville-Burrows, J., Battle, M., Breidenthal, T., Douglas, K. B., Fowl, S. E., Franklin, R. W., & Gallagher, C. J. (2024). The Crisis of Christian Nationalism: Report from the House of Bishops Theology Committee (1st ed.). Church Publishing, Incorporated.

Stewart, Katherine. (2025). Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Stewart, Katherine. The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2022.

The January 6th report : findings from the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. (2023). Random House.

Tyler, Amanda. (2024). How to End Christian Nationalism. Broadleaf Books.